A new apartment community is being proposed in a popular cultural hub near downtown Orlando.
Whole Milk LLC, an entity led by developer Adam Wonus who is a partner at Atrium Management Company, just submitted plans to redevelop roughly 1.32 acres in Orlando’s Milk District neighborhood a block north of the S.R. 408 interchange.
The project, being referred to as Milk Stacks, consists of demol-shing a couple of old residential structures on the property and developing a 3-story multifamily building, as well as renovating an old 10,000-square-foot office building at 201 S. Bumby Avenue.
According to a project narrative written by civil engineer Bob Ziegenfuss, with Orlando-based Z Development Services, Milk Stacks will be composed of 21 two-bedroom units and six, one-bedroom units. Ziegenfuss points that the project is being designed to be pedestrian-friendly and adds the developer is including a bike rack and other pedestrian-related features in order to offset a slight parking shortage.
Orlando-based Eleven18 Architecture is the architect. Wonus, a longtime property holder in the Milk District, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Whole Milk LLC put the assemblage together earlier this year after spending $3.74 million for five separate parcels along South Bumby Avenue, between East Church Street and East Jackson Street. Records show the LLC financed the deal with a $2.8 million loan from South State Bank.
The sellers, Lochrane Brothers Investments LLC and T&G Lochrane Investments LLC, are led by Thomas and Robert Lochrane, senior principals at the family-run engineering business Lochrane Engineering Inc., now NV5.
Up the road, a new food hall called Milkhouse recently held a soft opening for its location, at the former Beer and Tobacco Outlet at 201 N. Bumby Avenue. Tenants include Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream, Ravenous Pig Brewing Co. and Foxtail Coffee. The food hall also features a craft beer and wine bar.
The T.G. Lee factory along Bumby Avenue is credited for giving the neighborhood its namesake. The brand’s founder, Thomas Gilbert Lee, reportedly milked cows in a shack on North Bumby Avenue, near the present-day Orlando factory, before selling the company to Dean Foods verging on his death in 1986.
Today, the Milk District has become a central location that contains a number of eateries, vintage shops, record stores, and cock-tail bars. A 200-foot-wide mural of cows facing East Robinson Street, commissioned by Florida Dairy Farmers in 2019, pays tribute to T.G. Lee and his legacy in the community.
Another developer seeking to build residences in the district includes Surrey Homes USA, which plans to construct nine single-family homes and 31 townhomes with rear-entry garages served by alleyways at 2113 South Street.
By Amanda Rabines for Growthspotter